This invention relates to a display chiller such as, for example, a chiller cabinet or a chiller counter of the type used in supermarkets or commercial establishments in general.
More specifically, this invention is applied in the sector of display chillers designed to maintain a low temperature inside by circulating cold air.
Commonly known display chillers are provided with a containment structure equipped with shelves and open at the front for allowing access to the shelves by a consumer for picking up products displayed on the shelves.
In the case of chiller cabinets the containment structure has a mainly vertical extension whilst for the chiller counters the extension of the containment structure is mainly horizontal.
Normally, display chillers are equipped with systems for closing the front opening, openable by the consumer and reclosable to maintain a low ambient temperature inside the chiller. Upon opening, the cold air normally circulating inside the chiller escapes through the front opening dissipating the cooling effect acting on the products housed on the shelves.
Commonly known closing systems provide, for example, one or more transparent sealing doors, openable by rotating outwards by a pulling action exerted by a consumer. These systems require additional space since the doors, in an open configuration, occupy a shape exceeding the shape of the containment structure and this solution is not therefore suitable where it is necessary to install the display chiller in small spaces.
A different solution consists in the use of transparent sliding doors which are located on guides placed side by side in such a way that, when a door is opened, the latter overlaps the other door uncovering part of the front opening of the containment structure. Whilst on the one hand this solution allows a reduction in the overall dimensions, on the other hand it makes it impossible to fully uncover the front opening of the containment structure, since there is always a door partly closing the front. For this reason, the access to the shelves in this solution is always limited to one part of them depending on the door which is moved (this may constitute a limitation where, for example, two consumers attempt to simultaneously access two different products located in different areas of the display chiller: one of the two consumers must wait until the other has finished picking up the products in order to move the relative door).
Another problem associated with these closing systems is linked to the problem of the dispersion of cold air, since sometimes the consumer does not reclose the door after picking up the product, for those systems not equipped with a return spring. In that situation, the cold air present in the chiller no longer remains screened by the door and is dispersed outside. For this reason, there is a costly consumption of energy in order for the cooling circuit to overcome this dispersion, as well as an excessive and unnecessary wear of components.